CMS, FDA advocate for UDI use in insurance billing

Editor's Note

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are recommending using unique device identifiers (UDIs) in universal health insurance claims forms to improve value-based reimbursement for medical devices and postmarket surveillance, the July 14 Modern Healthcare reports.

Proponents say UDIs could help to more quickly identify dangerous devices and inform population health by evaluating associated outcomes data.

Manufacturers and distributors say using UDIs in insurance claim forms would be costly because the technology to support such changes isn’t there.

The heads of the CMS and the Food and Drug Administration want universal health insurance claims forms to include unique device identifiers. The UDI would improve post-market surveillance and provide for better value-based reimbursement based on device performance, they say.